


It Broke His Heart When She Went To Save The World

by Sira



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-22
Updated: 2012-02-22
Packaged: 2017-10-31 14:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sira/pseuds/Sira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack couldn't believe his ears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Broke His Heart When She Went To Save The World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [canadianfolk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadianfolk/gifts).



> All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. 
> 
> Thank you, ufp13 for looking through this story. All remaining mistakes are mine.

Jack O’Neill disliked meetings, especially those which threatened to drag on and on. Even after a few years on the job, he still hadn’t quite gotten used to it, felt itchy from time to time, missed being out in the field. Everyone knew it was what he did best, although he liked to think the trust in putting him behind a desk hadn’t been misplaced. With him in this position, they had for once someone who knew field conditions pulling the strings. So far, it had worked out, and Jack was confident it would work out in the future.  
This time, the meeting had a definite perk, though. It was a meeting on Atlantis, which gave him the chance to see Carter again. Since Sam had transferred to Atlantis, he hadn’t had the chance to see her often, and he missed her. Simple as that.  
Sitting directly opposite of the object of his musings now, he thought it wasn’t quite fair. For years, they hadn’t dared cross the lines, regulations making it impossible, and that while seeing each other daily. Now, they were a couple, although of course not officially, and hardly got to see each other. Sometimes, there were stretches of a few months between visits, times in which Jack’s dreams got more vivid than he was used to, especially considering he didn’t usual dream.  
Looking at her, he found just looking and not touching could quickly become torture. Hell, they hadn’t even managed to say hello today. Properly saying hello. Saluting each other didn’t count in his opinion. In the hour he was here now, they’d never been alone. If he didn’t know better, he’d been saying she was avoiding him on purpose, but he did know better, didn’t he?  
Eyeing Sam closely, he found she looked tired, stressed. More so than usual. Even the looks they exchanged were somewhat… guarded. Something was wrong, and his gut feeling told him he wouldn’t like it.  
“Okay, now to the incident last week,” Sheppard began.  
Incident? What incident? He hadn’t heard of one. Ignoring the speaker, Jack looked at Sam, quirked his eyebrow, but she chose to ignore him.  
“What incident?” he asked, and finally, Sam looked at him. She appeared defensive, her whole body posture speaking of discomfort, and it made him want to clear the room, to demand she tell him what was going on.  
“It wasn’t that much of an incident. We got it under control.”  
“Not much?” Rodney McKay chimed in. “You only nearly got yourself killed.”  
He had to be kidding, Jack thought, feeling his throat tighten at the mere idea of anything happening to Sam, of losing her.  
“There won’t be any more security breaches,” Sam said in a tone indicating she didn’t want to discuss it any further. Too bad he wouldn’t let go. As she knew him as well as he knew her, she should know he wouldn’t.  
“Security breaches?” he asked. “Explain.”  
Watching Sam sitting up even straighter in her chair, Jack waited for her to explain. He knew her too well, for too long not to know whatever had happened was serious, even if she would try to play it light.  
“Last week, it turned out one of the archaeologists visiting Atlantis was on a mission to take over and destroy the station. In this process, I was taken hostage. As you can see, we solved the problem, and you’ll get my written report after this meeting, Sir.”  
Sam taken hostage? Why hadn’t he heard about this before? He wasn’t stupid, hadn’t forgotten what McKay had said. Sam had been in mortal danger, and she hadn’t said a thing until now? His first impulse was to clear the room, discuss it in a one-on-one, but he knew better than to announce his worries. No matter what people knew or suspected, they officially weren’t in a relationship.  
“Nothing happened? I like to disagree. I want a full report. Now.”  
He saw Sam battling with herself for a moment, then she nodded.  
“Yes, Sir. It happened out of the blue as no security check gave any reason to suspect the archaeological team was anything else than what it pretended to be. They…”

***

It wasn’t the first time someone was holding her at gunpoint. Not by a long shot. Still, it wasn’t something she thought she could ever get used to. Keeping her calm, as hard as it was, she let herself be moved forward, step by step into yet another unexplored part of the city.  
“If you’d tell me what you want…” she began but didn’t get the chance to finish the sentence as he interrupted her. “I told you to keep your mouth shut.”  
Gritting her teeth to keep silent, Sam tried to understand what was going on, if there were any clues as to why the leader of Atlantis’s latest archaeological expedition had taken her hostage. Although, if there’d been any indication he was dangerous, she wouldn’t have met with him here. She knew Sheppard had approved of the expedition, and he was nothing but meticulous when it came to the station’s security. If they had gotten his clearance, it couldn’t be something obvious.  
“Stop here,” Grewson said, reaching around her to open a door and push her into what looked like an old storage room.  
Turning slowly so she wouldn’t agitate him further, she lifted both hands.  
“Alright. We are here. You have my attention. Now, what do you want from me?”  
“We want Atlantis. Simple as that.” Grewson smiled, and it was a calculated smile, not the one of someone suffering from mental deficiencies, someone acting on impulse. This all had been planned. Question was, to what purpose?  
“Who is ‘we’?”  
“It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that there’s a bomb, one that will eradicate roughly half of the people on this station if you don’t comply.”  
“Okay, but you would destroy a good deal of the station as well.”  
“Let that be my problem.”  
She couldn’t quite figure out his angle. There was no true menace to be felt from him, no agitation at all.  
“So you need me to…?”  
“I want you to contact your staff, Sheppard for example, let them know if our demands won’t be met within twenty-four hours, the bomb will go off. Until then, we want everyone to leave Atlantis.”  
“Not doable. Even if we started evacuations right now, we wouldn’t be able to…”  
“Make it happen. Now.”  
Looking at him, she gauged her chances to have a go at him, had to admit they were close to non-existent. So she nodded slowly and contacted Sheppard.

***

“Someone threatened to blow up the station? I should have heard about it right when it happened, the very least right afterwards.”  
Jack didn’t want to believe it. He could have lost Sam – again. No matter how often this woman had been in mortal danger, it would always tear at his heart. Even seeing her safe and sound right before him now didn’t change the fact he could have lost her. Yes, he was pissed, but only because he was scared. He would never try to cage her, never try to convince her to look for a different, a safer job – although shouldn’t this job be rather safe? – but he would be damned if he stopped caring about the danger she surrounded herself with.  
“With all due respect, Sir, we were a bit busy with cleaning up and scheduled this meeting at all our earliest convenience.”  
He heard what she said but heard what she didn’t say, too. It was okay now, she didn’t want him to suffer, was sorry he had to find out this way. Still… sometimes, he wondered if she had any idea how deep his feelings for her ran.  
When he had met her all these years ago, he’d been dead inside. Sure, he had lived on, drifting along, wishing and trying not to remember what he had lost. He had lived his life the best he could, he just hadn’t seen a particular sense in doing so. One could survive losing a son, the ensuing divorce from one’s life, but one would never be the same, life would never be the same. Granted, he wouldn’t have given up on life, that was just not his way; yet, he knew he had been just the shell of the man he’d been before.  
He wouldn’t say it was solely Carter who made him feel alive again, but she had helped with seeing the difference between living and actually feeling like it. She was the one who brought a certain spark back to his life from the very first moment she had stepped into the room, turning out to be a ‘she’ instead of a ‘he’, one with rather spectacular legs. She challenged his mind on a regular basis while her slender, curvy body tempted him to take more than a look. All the while, she chipped away at his heart, making the ice melt until it seemed that staying away from her was the hardest choice he ever had to make. A necessary choice given their positions, but one not made any easier by its sole necessity. It seemed one look of her damned big blue eyes and she had him almost on his knees, something he had taken pains to never let her know. Although knowing how smart she was didn’t she know it anyway?  
So damn her for getting into danger again and again. He couldn’t deal with another knock on the door and someone informing him that a loved one had died. Although in her case, it would most likely only be a call. The number of people knowing of their relationship was strictly limited, and this wouldn’t change within the next few years. Couldn’t. Less for his sake but for hers as she still had enough time left on the job.  
“Your earliest convenience wasn’t and won’t ever be enough, are we clear on that? In cases like that, I demand to be informed immediately.”  
Looking at each other, a battle of wills took place. This time, she relented.  
“Yes, Sir.”  
“Alright, I want a detailed report on what has happened. Detailed means step by step. What did this Grewson want, how did you solve the problem and is this bastard dead by now?”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
Leaning back in his chair, he braced himself for the story that was to follow.

***

Speaking slowly so she wouldn’t agitate Grewson, she braced herself for his next demand.  
“If we start with evacuating the station now, it will take us a minimum of sixty-two hours until the last person has left the place.”  
“Why haven’t you begun yet? And no, that’s not fast enough.”  
“We’re preparing the evacuation right this moment, but it needs time.” She lifted both of her hands. “I swear we’re doing our best but it needs more time than you’re giving us.”  
Grewson shook his head. “I don’t care. If push comes to shove it will be you who’ll be responsible for each of the fatalities that will incur. You got the warning, and you’re having a chance to get the people safe. That you’re delaying the process in hopes I’m going to relent is not my fault, and I won’t take responsibility for the result of your actions.”  
He was right on one account. Although Sheppard was preparing the evac, he tried to manage in a way that wouldn’t cause panic. Yes, she had hopes to resolve this peacefully or to get Grewson down.  
“You are an intelligent man,” Sam tried again. “You should know that your demand cannot be fulfilled. So why are you insisting on it happening within twenty-four hours anyway? Do you want us to fail? We can work on this together, but that’ll only work if we’re being honest with each other. Let me know what you want to achieve, and I’ll see how I can make it possible.”  
Grewson stepped closer, his eyes cold, unforgiving. “Where’s the rest of the speech? The part where you tell me we can find a peaceful solution? That I should let you go and you’ll help me anyway.”  
Sam looked around the dusty room, then back at him, hoping she radiated calm in spite of the disquiet she felt inside. For no good reason, she had to think of Jack, how mad he would be if he knew she was in danger once again.

One morning when they hadn’t been lovers for all that long, he’d spooned her from behind, thought she was still half asleep when in fact she’d been wide awake for hours. Quietly, in a whisper she had had difficulty to understand, he had told her not to do this to him again, that he had come close to losing her so many times as to last a lifetime. He’d called her his last chance at happiness.  
She knew where he was coming from, was glad and relieved that his current position didn’t give him much of a chance of getting himself killed. 

As much as she hated the separation, being away from the man she had longed for, desired for so many years, as happy she was that he wouldn’t hear of this situation until it was long resolved, one way or the other.  
“I am not one to waste my time or that of others. You wouldn’t let me go because you know you need the threat of violence to keep me prone. Still, I only want to solve this situation without any bloodshed. If you only…”  
She didn’t even see the slap coming, the impact of his hand on her cheek immediate, painful, taking the breath right from her lungs.  
“I’m not interested in talking. I’m not interested in enlightening you. Just realise you lost this station. It’s ours now. How much people you’ll kill on your way out is your decision.”

***

Jack hoped for Grewson he truly was dead by now. If not and he got his hands onto this man…  
The shake of Sam’s head was almost imperceptible, and if he hadn’t known her for as long as he did, he’d have missed it. She wanted him to listen, to forget about his crazy fantasies of vengeance. Easier said than done.  
Silently counting to ten, he willed his heartbeat to slow down. There was only one thing truly important. Sam was alive. No matter his frustration, his anger, the past was the past and Sam was alive and well. It might not stop him from acting like a jerk trying to discuss it with her later on, but it was something he should remind himself of again and again. For a moment, Sam’s gaze softened, silently pleading him to tone it down a bit.  
“What happened next? What was Grewson’s motive? And who the hell is the ‘we’ he was always talking about?”  
“It turned out to be a group of activists calling themselves ‘Earth For Humans’. They think any contact with aliens should be forbidden, each Stargate should be destroyed.”  
“One of those. Sweet.”  
“Yes.”  
“So did you evacuate the station?”  
“We began with the evac.”

***

Time passed slowly. Sam knew they had too little time to meet Grewson’s demands as it was, yet, she wished time would pass faster. Trying to keep still was eating away at her energy, making her tired and twitchy at the same time. Her cheek was still hurting, a stinging pain, but she used the pain to keep her mind sharp, alert. If her adrenaline wore off… she didn’t want to contemplate this possibility.  
After what must have been over an hour of silence, Grewson began pacing the room, first calmly, then more agitated. Counting his steps, she found out it took him eleven steps from one end of the room to the other. After his five-hundred and thirty- third step, he turned to her.  
“Ask Sheppard how many people are evacuated as of yet.”  
Why did he care? Hadn’t he said he didn’t care how many people died? Did he have some kind of conscience after all? She bit her lip not to ask any of these questions. Not right now anyway. Contacting Sheppard, she tried radiating a calmness she didn’t feel. Relaying the question, she listened to Sheppard’s answer, suppressed the feeling of dread rising up in her.  
“Thank you.”  
She faced Grewson. “Right now forty-eight people have left this station.”  
Grewson’s face contorted. “Only forty-eight? You want these people to die, don’t you? You think we’re not serious, right?” Grewson stopped himself, froze, becoming calm once more. “I think your people don’t get that they won’t only be responsible for the death of some people but also for the death of you. I think we should remind them.”  
He was fast, faster than she had expected, and twisting her arm, spinning her around. She was hurled up, with her back to his chest, his weapon once again resting against her temple.  
“I’d advise you not to do any hasty movements. Wouldn’t do to shoot you by accident, would it?”  
Sam took a deep breath. “You are aware that once you shoot me, no one will stop and think twice about killing you.”  
Grewson laughed. “It won’t be hard to find someone to take your place. Granted, you’re the better hostage, but in the end, I don’t think your people will risk anyone’s life just like that. Oh, and maybe I should inform you that my people are all over the place, ready to take another hostage from your crew any second.”  
Damned. This was bad news, indeed. Although, if she was honest with herself, she had known it. If she’d been him, she would have covered all bases, too.  
Letting Grewson push her out of the room, she had the feeling their walk back to the habituated section of the station took them ages.  
Wanting to try another approach, Sam spoke slowly. “Seeing you will get your way no matter what, can’t you tell me why? What do you want with this station?” Knowledge was power, and understanding his motives might help her finding a way out of this situation. It was always better to try and to fail than not to try at all.  
“You wouldn’t understand.”  
At least, he didn’t refuse her inquiry outright this time.  
“Try me.”  
“You think you’re smart, don’t you?”  
“No, I don’t.”  
She knew she was smart and didn’t need a man like Grewson agreeing with her to know it to be true.  
“This station has to be destroyed. The Stargate has to be closed forever. You might think we’re out to do harm. We aren’t. In fact, we try to save lives.”  
Did they? How many people had excused their killings with just that reasoning? It made Sam feel tired.  
“If that’s true, why don’t you give us more time to get the people off the station?”  
“If we relent, you will count it as weakness, will try to negotiate what is non-negotiable. And if a push becomes a shove; sacrifices have to be made. They might be a useful lesson, too.”  
“A lesson for what?”  
For a moment, she had slowed down, but Grewson pushed her forward.  
“That humanity doesn’t need to mingle with other races. That there shouldn’t be any contact with aliens of all kinds. Never.” Stopping, Grewson turned Sam to him, his breath foul in her face, his eyes burning with a passion that hadn’t been evident before. “These aliens will be the end of humanity if we don’t put a stop to it. Now. They will take over Earth, either slowly by infiltrating important positions in business and politics or by force. It doesn’t even matter. If we want humanity to survive, we need to act now, pull the cord before more harm befalls this planet. Earth was God’s gift to humanity. Who are we to destroy it so carelessly?”  
Sam knew she shouldn’t reply, that there was no sense in arguing with a fanatic; yet, after all her years with the Stargate project, she knew the good and the bad of it.  
“I’m afraid that’s not quite true. I understand your fear, but you shouldn’t let it blind yourself to the fact…”  
Another hit, her other cheek this time. Tasting blood, she knew her lip was split.  
“Are you even operating under your own free will or are you a puppet for one of these alien races wanting to destroy Earth, ravage it?”  
Sam kept silent. Another mistake. A hand came around her throat, squeezing slightly.  
“Answer me”  
“No, I am not under influence of an alien entity. I’m human, as human as you are.”  
The pressure to her throat lessened.  
“Then you should be ashamed of yourself. Do you care so little about your own race?”  
“I do…”  
“You know what happens to traitors, don’t you?”  
A device vibrated in the breast pocket of Grewson’s shirt, and getting it out, he spoke to someone on the other end of the line. All the while, the muzzle of his gun pointed at Sam’s temple.  
“Yes, I know. It’s going too slow. ... What do you say? ... Yes, okay, keep an eye on Sheppard. If he gets twitchy take him hostage. I’m going to bring Carter to the Stargate. People shall know what’s at stake. ... What? ... Yes, I thought so, too. If setting an example will speed up the process… She doesn’t care for humanity anyway. We’ll stay in touch.” He put the device away.  
“You’re going to kill me?” Sam asked, although she already knew the answer. 

***

It was enough. He had enough. Sitting here, trying not to react to the fact someone had threatened the woman he considered his with bodily harm was quickly getting too much.  
Nodding when it came to a natural break, he looked around.  
“How about a ten minute break before we hopefully get to the wonderful fact that Grewson is dead by now.”  
His comment caused some raised eyebrows from people who didn’t know him as well as Sam did, but when Sam gave her okay, everyone scattered. Getting up from his seat, Jack walked over to Sam, finding it hard to keep a respectable distance.  
“Carter, do you have a minute?”  
“Of course, General. What can I do for you?”  
“I’d rather discuss this somewhere more private,” he said, nodding toward McKay and someone he didn’t know, who were busy raiding a plate with cookies. Why was it that meetings and cookies seemed to be tied together?  
Carter’s eyes widened, but to her credit, she just gave him a curt nod. “But of course, General.”  
Leading the way, she took him to an unused office not far from the conference room.  
“Listen, Jack,” Sam began when they had closed the door behind them.  
“No, you listen,” Jack said, trapping her against the door with his arms on both sides of her face. Damn, looking at her like this, the loneliness of the last weeks and months came back to him. What would he give to free her long hair out of her ponytail and let his hands run through it? He had loved it when she had still worn it short, but if he had to decide, he was simply a man, one who loved to sink his hands in his lover’s hair. Then her uniform, the way it hugged her delectable curves, curves he had resisted for years, curves that haunted his dreams. Sam in leather… since the day he’d seen her on her bike for the first time, he’d been sold at the sight. This woman, the things she did to him without even trying...  
All of this woman was forbidden to him, but she was the one siren’s call he couldn’t resist, and that wasn’t all. There was the scent, the one he associated with Carter. Right now, he wanted to bury his nose in the crook of her neck, breathe her in, let himself be comforted by her scent.  
Wait, this wasn’t his point. He couldn’t give in to his body’s demands now, couldn’t celebrate the victory of life over death the way he wanted. But what was his point again? The one he had when he came in here. He needed to focus.  
“You were in mortal danger! You could have died. Sure, I can’t protect you. Yes, I know you don’t want or need my protection, but I think it would’ve been fair if you had let me know about this once it was over.”  
“And if I had?” She was calm, maddeningly so.  
“What do you mean?”  
“If I had told you I was nearly killed, you’d have been here within the day, driving everybody crazy.”  
“It’s my duty to be informed of a crisis like this. It’s your duty to keep me informed. I…”  
He stopped, knew she was right. No one could know of their relationship, and hearing she had nearly died would have overruled his better judgement. There was nothing like better judgement when it came to her. He sighed.  
“You could have called.”  
Her eyes softened, and she reached out, her hand touching his cheek.  
“We were pretty busy, and I didn’t want to worry you too much. I agree this might not have been the best way to find out, but…”  
“You. Could. Have. Been. Killed.”  
A life without her. Not comprehensible. Life without her… it would be a blow he couldn’t take. He couldn’t lose Carter. Period.  
“I’m alive. It all worked out alright. And now that I scheduled the meeting for a Friday and you only have to leave on Monday...”  
In fact this had been one of the things that had him readily agree to the trip.  
“I won’t let you out of bed for at least a day,” he said, wanting desperately to touch her, to check every inch of her if she was truly okay.  
“I’m off duty. So no problem with me.”  
Their gazes locked, and as always, there was this spark of heat and deep feelings. He loved her, would give his life for her, and as Carter was Carter, she’d do the same for him anytime.  
“You scared me today,” he confessed.  
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”  
She smiled, and he had to grin back. “What do you have in mind?”  
Leaning forward a bit, their lips touched slightly so he felt every movement of her lips against his when she spoke.  
“I bought something. Just for you. Something… flimsy.”  
The idea of Carter in something sheer or flimsy was an enthralling one. If she thought he had forgotten about the scare today, she was wrong, but he would take the distraction, needed it. Deepening the contact of their lips, their tongues meeting, caressing each other, he bit back a curse when someone banged at the door from the other side.  
“Colonel? Break’s over.”  
Rolling her eyes, Sam pushed him away, not before wiping some lipstick from his mouth, her thumb lingering on his lips for a second longer than strictly necessary.  
“One moment,” she called out.  
Jack stepped back so she could open the door.  
“Ready for the rest of the story?”  
Was he? He could feel ire rise inside him again already.  
“Yeah. Although it’s better going to be a good one.”

***

Grewson looked at her, a flicker of pity in his eyes that was gone the next second.  
“If we’re talking about the bigger picture, do you really think we care, I care for your life? People have to understand this is greater than just their life. This is about humanity’s destiny.”  
He talked on, but Sam didn’t listen. She needed to get away, to overpower him before he could kill, cause even more harm. The tunnel they took was dark, and Sam calculated she had at least another ten minutes before they’d reach the more populated areas of the station.  
Sam stopped, making Grewson run into her from behind.  
“Move.”  
Her heartbeat sped up, still she didn’t move.  
“No one has to die. Be reasonable. If you just give us…”  
She had calculated right, wasn’t surprised when he pushed her so she fell forward. Bracing herself on her elbows, she cushioned her fall as good as possible, rolled around onto her back.  
“You might want the right thing,” she continued, “But you’re going about this the wrong way. There’s another possibility. If you only…”  
“Shut up. Shut… up.”  
She had thought he’d step closer so she could kick his legs away under him. He didn’t. Instead he took a step back, took a deep breath. Once, twice, thrice.  
“Get up. Now. And don’t come too close.”  
Damned. She pondered telling him she’d twisted her ankle, but she knew he wouldn’t believe her.  
“I’ll still be able to drag you along with a damaged knee. Or maybe a bullet in your thigh? I can bind it off with a tourniquet. You will die, Major Carter. There’s no question about that. It’s up to you to choose if it’s going to be a slow and painful death or a fast and quick one.”  
Knowing her moment here was over, she slowly got up, buying time for she didn’t know what.  
“I’d have thought of something better,” Grewson said the moment they had started walking again. “I know what you’re thinking, Colonel. You think you can stop me somehow, that you’ll be able to get me after all, to put me out of action. You won’t. I’m not stupid, and you better keep this in mind. If you pull another of those tricks, I’m going to call others of our group and someone is going to die. First a child, then someone of the elder… Innocents. Or people you’d call innocent, although they, too, are just traitors of humanity. They deserve to die, although you won’t agree with me. And it’s what you think that counts here, that you think you can’t let a child or an older person die, not what I think, isn’t it?”  
He laughed. For the first time since they were down here, he laughed, and it was a thoroughly unpleasant sound. Sam just put one foot in front of the other. He had her by the short hair, and right now, she didn’t have a plan. None at all. She hated it.

***

“Alright, as I see, you’re still alive. So, what happened?” Jack could remain calm. He just had to focus.  
McKay answered for Sam. “You’re going to love it. It’s no mystery no one can quite reach my level of genius, but sometimes, Sam’s ideas aren’t the worst.”  
Looking at McKay, Jack wondered if the man knew how often he had come close to being strangled by one person or the other. It should be impossible to run around with an ego so grossly blown out of proportion, but McKay was living proof of it.  
Sam chose to ignore him, which surely was the wisest course of action.  
“Unfortunately, there was no possibility to counteract the threat posed by Grewson before we reached the station’s habituated areas. We drew attention onto ourselves nearly at once, which caused quite a commotion. Grewson then threatened to kill everyone coming near us.”  
“Did he kill anyone?” Jack asked, and for the first time, a quick flash of temper appeared in Sam’s eyes.  
“With all due respect, Sir. If you let me continue with my story, you’d get to know all the relevant facts.”  
Polite yet to the point. Carter at her best. Without any problem, he’d be able to recount numerous occasion where she’d put him back on his toes with a simple statement. She knew how to read him, how to deal with him. Damn, he couldn’t wait to have her all for himself, make love to her. Sometimes, the question if they’d ever manage a normal, constant relationship depressed him, but he’d take what they had over having nothing at all any day. His life had sense. He had a good job, a woman he loved, what else could he ask for?  
“By all means, continue.”  
Sam nodded, her gaze softening as if asking him to give her a little more time.  
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

***

She could see the people’s faces while they made their way toward the Stargate. Surprise quickly turned into fear, panic, and she could hear the whispers following them. It got only worse when Grewson began threatening to kill everyone trying to get in his way. Soon, it began to feel as if they were moving in a bubble. She could see everything going on around her, but no one dared get too close, a fact Sam was rather thankful for. Through her own fear, the commotion, Sam was still weighing possibilities, and the thought hit her out of the blue. Wondering if Grewson would swallow such a blatant lie, she slowed down without meaning to.  
“Move on. You don’t want to try walking with a shot wound, do you?”  
The tiniest flutter in his voice alerted her to the fact he was getting nervous, was beginning to feel the strain himself.  
“I… I might have found a solution for your problem.”  
He snorted. “My problem? I’d say it’s more your problem. We’ll get what we want in any case.”  
A sharp reply on her lips, she swallowed it, knowing she had to stay reasonable if she wanted to have even a tiny chance.  
“Yes, of course. It’s just… there might be a way to get a quarter of Atlantis’ inhabitants off this station at once. I won’t say it’s going to work, I don’t know. But there is the possibility…”  
“Which kind of possibility? And move. I won’t tolerate any delay.”  
Keeping her voice as calm as possible while still trying to sell it as real possibility she just had thought of, she began to speak. “There’s another uninhabited area to the south. The Atlantis natives had… I really shouldn’t tell you that as it’s highly classified information, but anyway, there’s a ship, a spaceship. It wasn’t used in more than a hundred years. We lately found out how to operate it, had a test run. We could transport quite a lot of Atlantis’ inhabitants this way.”  
It was hard not to hold her breath. If he didn’t believe her…  
“More alien technology.” He all but spat out the words. “It has to be destroyed.”  
“You can’t do it. Not now. It’s the best chance to get people off the station in time.”  
“I don’t care. Any trace of alien technology has to be destroyed. We can’t make exceptions. Lead me to this ship. Now.”  
It wasn’t quite what she had expected, but it would get him away from the people, gave her the chance to fight on a terrain she was comfortable with, had explored before.  
“Alright. Yes, alright. We’ll have to take the next exit to the right. But…”  
He shut her up with a shove. Good. He believed her.  
While she moved into the direction, always aware of the gun pointed at her, she heard him contact one of his followers on the station. “I don’t care how you do it. I’ll tell you where to meet me, and I want you to bring enough explosives so we can destroy this ship. We can’t tolerate any of their technology surviving, you know that as well as I do. I’ll contact you again once I’ve arrived.”  
He ended the call, told her to pause.”How far is it?”  
“About twenty minutes.”  
“Okay, let’s move faster, no wasting any time.”  
She couldn’t agree more. Nodding once, she moved as fast as she dared, mindful to keep her calm, not to agitate people any further. In the distance, she could see Sheppard, hoped he was wise enough not to try a thing. Right now, he’d only do more harm than good.  
Slowly, she led Grewson away from the habituated areas. The part of the station they were now entering was one she had explored to great length last week. There were some corridors with inscriptions they still tried to decipher, but they would manage eventually… if they got the chance. The plan was that Daniel would come to visit the station to help them out. So far, Sam had to admit she was clueless, this not being her area of expertise. Concentrating, trying not to lose her train of thoughts, she looked for the corridor she wanted Grewson to get into.  
Reaching it, she slowed down, her heart beating painful in her chest. “It’s along this corridor, through this door, and at the end of the next corridor, we’ll reach the hangar with the ship.”  
“Good.” As she had hoped he would, he contacted his crew again, gave them the coordinates, telling them to hurry.  
Nearing the door, it slid open in front of her, and knowing she couldn’t hesitate, she hurried forward, throwing herself on the ground, rolling to the side; the same moment, Grewson cried out and hurried after her, the door squeezing shut relentlessly. Letting out a cry of surprise and pain, he threw himself forward as well, but one of his legs got stuck, breaking with a nasty crunch.  
Thankful and relieved her plan had indeed worked out, Sam lunged for Grewson’s gun, wrestling it from his hand without a problem.  
Pointing it at him, she took a deep breath. Only good they hadn’t gotten around sending a repair crew to the damaged door and that no one had put up a danger sign. After all, this corridor was closed for the public anyway.  
Grewson tried to move, to free his leg, but he couldn’t, a pained groan escaping his lips.  
“If you’re lucky, your leg might be saved. And once your fellow conspirators come down here, the doors will open again, don’t worry.”  
Grewson tried to talk, but all slipping past his lips was another moan, although his eyes burned with hatred. Right now, if he could, he would kill her. There was no way to mistake his look.  
Ignoring him for a moment, she contacted Sheppard asked for a back-up team to come down here as fast as possible and to stop moving people off the station.  
“Are you okay?” he inquired.  
Was she? Honestly, she had no idea. If it hadn’t been for one good idea, a stroke of luck, she might have gotten killed today. Her knees felt a bit weak, but she ignored them. It was not the first time she had come close to dying after all. Out of the blue, taking up a good position to greet Grewson’s collaborators should they be faster than Sheppard’s men, the thought she would have to inform the General about today’s happenings hit her. Jack wouldn’t be pleased. 

***

“Where’s Grewson now?” Jack asked. In the last five minutes, he had come close to cheer loudly when he heard how Sam had disabled Grewson, all the while finding himself fighting murderous urges once more.  
“He’s still in one of our holding cells, about to be transferred to Washington along with his conspirators. You will only have to sign the papers, Sir.”  
“Can I have a talk with him?” he asked, imagining what he would say and do if he got the chance.  
“I don’t think this might be a wise idea, Sir,” Sam said, knowing exactly what he had in mind. “It’s just that Grewson isn’t co-operating, hasn’t said a word since his imprisonment.”  
He didn’t need this man to talk in order to… He took a deep breath. Didn’t he know better than letting out his inner cave man when it came to Sam? It seemed he was bound to suffer with his heart and his mind pulling him into two different directions when it came to this woman. Damn, he would put his life into her hands, knew she was capable of defending herself. Still, he would always want to remove all obstacles in her path. It had to be something in his genes, something in all men’s genes. A foolish notion, but at least, he had learned to keep it to himself – mostly, anyway. Sam seemed to love him in spite of it, though. Or maybe because? He doubted that, but who knew.  
“I see. Well, it seems it was a job well done. You handled the situation with intelligence and no bloodshed. I’ll expect your written report asap.”  
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. If you agree, we can go on to the next point of the agenda.”  
“But of course.”  
Meetings. One had to love them. At least, there were still a few cookies left. Although, if he interpreted McKay’s hungry gaze correctly, not for long. Reaching out, he pulled the plate a bit closer and steeled himself for the rest of the meeting, suppressing a yawn. 

***

Knocking at the door of Sam’s quarters, he looked around to make sure he really was alone. It was a habit notoriously hard to shake after years of even resisting the notion of a relationship. Thankfully, there was no one, and Sam opened the door just a few second later.  
To say she had dressed up would have been an understatement. She wore a black dress, showing a sinful amount of cleavage, her hair flowing freely down her back. He knew he was staring, but damn, this wasn’t only the woman he was madly in love with, but she also looked like a goddess right about now.  
“Wow.” It was all he had to say.  
She stepped aside, granting him entry.  
“I take you approve of the outfit?”  
“Yeah, I do. What did I do to deserve this? It’s neither Christmas nor my birthday.”  
She led them to an already set table, a few candles spent a soft light. Turning to him, she put her hands on his shoulders. “You didn’t get a stroke at today’s meeting...”  
“So you had to trying causing one now?!”  
She ignored his comment. “... and you didn’t try to rip off Grewson’s head. Yet. I thought it deserved a reward.”  
“If you see it like that.” She definitely had a point.  
“And… I missed you.”  
There was a small note of sadness in her voice. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. He hated when she was sad.  
Putting a finger under her chin, he lifted it slowly.  
“But now we’re here, together, alive. That counts for something, doesn’t it?” It did for him.  
“Yes, it does.”  
Their eyes locked, and he leaned in slowly, their lips nearly touching when she backed away.  
“Not yet. I cooked dinner myself. If we start this now…”  
They wouldn’t stop. So what? They had waited months for it. He was about to protest when he saw her face, her silent plea for him to give in. Internally, he sighed. He just couldn’t resist her, was putty in this woman’s hand.  
“Alright, let’s eat first.”  
What would happen afterwards, they would see... and feel.

= End =


End file.
